Lyme Info

"Hundreds of Lyme disease patients have contacted legislators, expressing
their concern that the intrusion of the Office of Professional Medical
Conduct into their personal physician's treatment protocol is having a
chilling effect on their doctor's ability to provide successful treatment
for them."
- NY State Assembly Resolution 2155

Consider this:

The goal of OPMC reform is to improve the system so that doctors are
prosecuted for the right reasons not persecuted for the wrong ones.

THE OPMC CONTROVERSY
By: Voices of Lyme
Last Edit: January, 2005

OVERVIEW OF THE OPMC CONTROVERSY:
Despite the evidence of persistent infection beyond the 4 week
treatment, insurance companies and medical disciplinary boards have
adopted the belief that Lyme disease is easily cured. In New York State,
the Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) has targeted for
investigation two thirds of the physicians who treat chronic Lyme
disease. To protect our access to effective medical care, chronic Lyme
disease patients are now fighting for two laws that will stop an
unbridled OPMC from inappropriately targeting the only physicians who will
treat us.

BACKGROUND:There has been a long-standing controversy in the medical community
as
to whether or not Lyme disease is easily diagnosed, treated and cured.
One group states that diagnosis is easy and that Lyme is almost always
cured with 4 weeks of antibiotics. The other side of the controversy is
supported by chronic Lyme patients and the physicians who treat us.

We contend that the persistence of Lyme disease symptoms beyond the 4
week treatment is due to the persistence of the Lyme disease bacterial
infection and/or to the presence of co-infection. We attest to the fact
that we do much better when treated beyond those 4 weeks of antibiotic
treatment.

Our subjective experience is supported by a body of peer reviewed
scientific research that shows that the Lyme bacterium can survive this
'standard' treatment. (See the first item, the persistence file, at:
http://www.lymeinfo.net/lymefiles.html)

DECEMBER 1999 - The medical disciplinary boards of many states had,
for
some time, been harassing physicians who treat chronic Lyme disease.
However, in November 1999, it was announced that the NYS Office of
Professional Medical Conduct, following a lengthy hearing, had revoked
the license of Dr. Perry Orens, a Long Island physician who treated
chronic Lyme disease. (Referred to as Lyme Literate Medical Doctor, or
LLMD).

The revocation of Dr. Orens' license, after a more than a forty year
record of unblemished practice, focussed the attention of the national
Lyme community on New York State. In December 1999, a group of activists
organized a protest outside the office of the OPMC in NYC. Lyme patients
wrote numerous letters to the OPMC complaining of the unjust revocation
of Dr. Orens' license.

JANUARY 2000 - In response to letters from Lyme disease
patients,
Ansel
Marks, the executive secretary of the OPMC , wrote that in judging Lyme
disease doctors the OPMC relied on guidelines that indicated that
"rarely if ever" were more than 2-3 weeks of antibiotics were necessary
to cure the illness.
www.angelfire.com/ny5/lymelinks/letter4.html

This was clear evidence that the OPMC had taken sides in the ongoing
scientific debate about the treatment of chronic Lyme disease symptoms.
The fact that the majority of the LLMDs in NYS had been targeted for
investigation by the OPMC, was certainly further evidence of OPMC bias.

With this evidence, NYS Lyme disease patients, supported by patients
throughout the country, began to organize, asking elected
representatives to prevent OPMC persecution of those doctors who treat
chronic Lyme disease.

FALL OF 2000 -
A grassroots group known as Voices of Lyme, - working with Pat Smith of
the Lyme Disease Assocation, patient advocate Jill Auerbach of the
Hudson Valley Lyme Disease Committee and Monica Miller, a lobbyist with
the Foundation for the Advancement of Innovative Medicine, - began
organizing protests, letter writing campaigns, behind the scenes
meetings and in-person lobbying of legislators and other politicians.

Assembly Members Nettie Mayersohn and Joel Miller both became champions
of our cause early on in this process and have been invaluable to our
cause throughout.

However, it was still up to the community of Lyme disease patients to
change the attitudes of other representatives, almost all of whom were
ignorant of chronic Lyme disease (some even antagonistic to any mention
that Lyme could be chronic).

Thus the period between the fall of 2000 and the fall of 2001 was an
extemely difficult time, requiring constant work by the Lyme community.

ASSEMBLY HEARINGS - November 2001 and January 31, 2002. As a result
of
our lobbying, the Assembly held two public hearings: one on Lyme disease,
and one on the workings of the OPMC, www.lymeinfo.net/hearings.html.

APRIL 2002 - The Assembly unanimously passed a Resolution
acknowledging
that there is still legitimate scientific controversy about the
treatment of Lyme disease and asking that the OPMC "cease and desist"
from targeting physicians who treat Lyme disease.www.lymeinfo.net/nyresolution.html

Also in April, the Gottfried/Miller/Mayersohn/Lentol bill to reform the
OPMC was introduced into the Assembly, and a similar bill was later
introduced by Senator Larkin into the Senate. The bill focussed on
giving physicians due process in protecting themselves against OPMC
harassment.

This was in response to the
January 31st hearing which uncovered unfairness and lack of
accountability in the way that physicians in general were treated by the
OPMC.

JUNE 2002 - The OPMC Reform Bill passed the Assembly unanimously.
However, the bill did not come to a vote in the Senate and, therefore,
was not passed by the end of the legislative session in July.

SUMMARY FROM SUMMER OF 2002 TO PRESENT -
The Lyme disease community has
continued to lobby for protection of physicians against OPMC abuse. On May
6th, 2003 and May 18th 2004, New Yorkers traveled to Albany to lobby key
legislators. Lobbying of local legislators also continued.

THE LEGISLATION:There are two bills in the NY legislature that we would
like to
see passed, however the primary focus is on the first bill.

1) S4148 (was S5221)/A4724a - This bill changes the way that the OPMC
works
by adding certain measure of due process so that ALL physicians can
protect
themselves against persecution by the OPMC.

2) S3000/A7365a - This bill gives two specific rights to physicians who
treat chronic Lyme disease. It gives them the right to know their accuser
it
is not a patient and requires that the OPMC disclose the identity of any
experts consulted in bringing charges against a doctor.

The LATEST:
The Assembly continues to be supportive of the Lyme issue and has passed
the
OPMC Reform Bill every year. The Senate has also become supportive and
passed the OPMC Reform bill in 2004. However, despite significant
pressure
to pass the bill, Governor Pataki vetoed the bill in December 2004. The
effort to get this bill passed is ongoing.